# Survivor of Mao’s cultural revolution speaks out on Kylian Mbappe fallout in China over laughed-at meme

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/survivor-of-maos-cultural-revolution-speaks-out-on-kylian-mbappe-fallout-in-china-over-laughed-at-meme/
- Published: 2026-10-29T15:26:13+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-04T00:36:22+00:00
- Original publisher: Fox News (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://www.foxnews.com/outkick-sports/survivor-maos-cultural-revolution-speaks-kylian-mbappe-fallout-china-laughed-meme
- Topics: Americas, Asia, Football, Sport, Trending, Weird & Viral, World

## Key points

- Mbappe faced commercial and broadcast consequences in China over a Mao meme.
- Chinese-American author Xi Van Fleet criticised the backlash and apologies.
- Real Madrid apologised after state broadcaster CCTV demanded it.

## Summary

Footballer Kylian Mbappe faced a backlash in China after laughing at a meme depicting him as Mao Zedong, prompting Chinese sponsors to drop him and state broadcaster CCTV to stop showing La Liga matches. Xi Van Fleet, a Chinese-American author who lived through Mao’s Cultural Revolution, criticised the reaction and the swift apologies, arguing that people in China were told he had insulted the country and lacked access to the full context.

The meme was discussed during an interview on a French talk show hosted by Mbappe’s Real Madrid teammate Aurélien Tchouaméni; Mbappe laughed because one of his nicknames is “The Dictator”. La Liga, Mbappe and Real Madrid each apologised, with the club issuing a formal apology after CCTV demanded one. Van Fleet said she would have urged Mbappe to stand by his words, and described Mao as a mass murderer responsible for up to 80 million deaths.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.